Henna's Journey...: Training Day 2 at 4 Paws

A MIRACLE!

Henna was 2 years old when she was admitted to the hospital with a traumatic brain injury. She had been thrown against a concrete wall by her biological father for crying too long. She had two depressed skull fractures, old blood on the brain from previous abuse, a lacerated liver, collapsed lung, suspected sexual abuse, and shaken baby syndrome. Henna coded while on the way to the hospital via helicopter and was brought back to life only to go into surgery to relieve pressure on her brain. She was not expected to live through the night. Henna was in a coma for one month hanging on to life. Then the miracle happened! Henna woke up and was able to move all her limbs and speak, shocking all of the medical professionals. We took Henna into our home and shortly after her arrival she started having seizures.

Henna's journey continues as we try to control her seizures. She received the Vagus Nerve Stimulator (VNS) on Feb. 4, 2011 at Children's Hospital in Washington, DC. The VNS will send an electrical impulse to Henna's brain every 3 minutes for 30 seconds to interrupt her seizures. Over two months we have increased the electrical current and we have seen no change in her seizure activity. It looks as though Henna is in the third of children who receive a VNS that sees no relief from the VNS. We are very disappointed! We have started her on a new medication in addition to her current medications. Maybe it will help.

On August 6th, 2012, Henna had a full corpus callosotomy. This surgery is for people who have generalized seizures with no focal point. The corpus callosum is a band of nerve fibers located deep in the brain that connects the two halves (hemispheres) of the brain. It helps the hemispheres share information, but it also contributes to the spread of seizure impulses from one side of the brain to the other. A corpus callosotomy is an operation that severs (cuts) the corpus callosum, interrupting the spread of seizures from hemisphere to hemisphere. Seizures generally do not completely stop after this procedure (they continue on the side of the brain in which they originate). However, the seizures usually become less severe, as they cannot spread to the opposite side of the brain.

Henna received a white Labradoodle, Leo, from 4 Paws for Ability in Oct. 2010. We sent 4 Paws 2 shirts a week to help train her dog. One shirt was when Henna had a seizure and they used it for her dog to smell the chemical change during her seizure. The other shirt was when Henna had NOT had a seizure. This helped her dog differentiate between the two scents. It's a fascinating process. We trained for 10 day in Ohio with Leo and a trainer before bringing Leo home.

Leo had been going to school with Henna but started to bark and growl at different people when they came into her classroom. We worked with Leo's barking and growling when people would knock on the door and for a while he seemed better. He is very protective at home also. He then barked and growled at some boys who came into Henna's classroom and had to be removed from school. The trainer at 4 Paws said that some dogs bond so closely with their child that they become protective. Leo took on Henna's classroom as another home and felt he had to protect her. Sadly, because of his aggressive behavior, Leo can no longer be a service dog. The trainer said Leo would behave lthat way with any child he bonded to. Just his nature. We will keep Leo as a pet. Leo LOVES being just a pet. He still alerts to Henna's seizures and lives to get his hot dog reward!

Henna now has Snoball, a beautiful Golden Retriever. Snoball was born June 3, 2011. She is so sweet and a bundle of energy! Sno is doing an excellent job alerting to Henna's seizures BEFORE she has them! She is alerting up to one hour before Henna has a seizure. Sno goes to school with Henna and proudly wears her school ID badge. Snoball will be a great seizure alert dog and will serve Henna well.

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Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Training Day 2 at 4 Paws

Are these fingers? Leo is one tall, long boy. He did well last night considering he was in a new place with a new family. I was up and down all night listening and checking on Leo when he got up. He slept on Henna's bed most of the night. Took me back to the days when we had newborn babies. Calgon, take me away! I woke up tired and a little out of it. On top of that, Henna is always giving me a hard time lately. She doesn't want me to help her with anything and she can be down right mean at times. She thinks it's funny too. I love the fact that she's independent but she doesn't realize she really does need the help. What's a mother to do?

We reviewed what we had learned yesterday in our 2nd day of training. Sit, heel, and down. We then built on that with longer durations and more distractions. We worked on distraction work where the dog will put his head on your lap when commanded to and he learned to ignore other distractions. "Lap", having the dog lay his head on the child's lap, this helps in calming down a child and disrupting negative behaviors. The kids learned the tricks the dogs know. Shaking paws, high 5, low 5, roll over, and play dead. Henna got a kick out of this and started laughing hysterically. Her laugh is so infectious that even if you don't want to laugh you usually do. We learned about the dog going to "place". This is where the dog will go for an extended period of time on a mat and not get up. This would be used at home, school, church, etc. we were given a Mutt Mat and the dog knows that he is to have at least 2 paws on that mat at all times. We took Leo with us to dinner tonight and he had to be put in the "down" position by me only once. He fell asleep on the floor next to Henna's chair. I was proud of him.

You can see the bond developing between Henna and Leo. He is fond of Chris and I but looks at Henna as his buddy. She's playful and fun and he realizes that. In training when she would go off and play Leo would sit up and look around for her. When she would approach him his tail would be wagging a mile a minute. We get her to pet him and talk to him each time she comes around him. I feel very confident he will learn her seizures eventually.

We're back at the hotel now, Henna is bathed and in bed, and Leo has fallen asleep on the floor. DJ is bored out of his mind but has remained a great sport.